1960 valve gramophone innards

rpr · September 2013

years ago i inherited a 1960 valve gramophone from my gran, when she passed away. I've had it lying in my hallway as a memoir/furniture. anyway, it's getting a bit tatty and i'm thinking of binning it. i had it plugged in once where it made a rather ominous about to explode kinda sound- I've since found the ground wire had came loose. So, to get to the point-

Is the valve amplifier/ speaker (TrueVox) worth keeping, could any of it be modded for the use of guitar amplification? Or should i just ditch it all?

I have to add that it wouldn't be me that would be doing any modding- I would be offering it as a freebie to forumites.

anybody help?

ESchap · September 2013

It's certainly possible, depends what's in there. I did this with an old Phillips reel to reel ...

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/1049/turning-a-reel-to-reel-tape-deck-into-an-ac4-first-amp-build#latest

I'm just starting another, a tweed Pro clone based on an old British PA from the Late 1940's!

There are other forums more dedicated to amp builders that are full of posts about converting various old PA's, Gramophones, Organs ... you name it .... into decent guitar amps.

If you can get a photo of the guts of it, should be able to ascertain what is doing the amplification and if its ripe for extracting and modding.

ecc83 · September 2013

Have look at the valve types and report back.

The first guitar amps were only the arse end of a radio set* and that is just what a gramophone amp is, viz "radiogram"!

The recent bandwagon jumping 5 watters ("we" still have the best, new one that re started the craze!) and just a bit of a radio set in effect.

*IMHO this is why we have a 1meg input Z for geetars. The detector circuit fed into the first audio stage and had to see a very high load R.

Dave.

ICBM · September 2013

rpr said:

years ago i inherited a 1960 valve gramophone from my gran, when she passed away. I've had it lying in my hallway as a memoir/furniture. anyway, it's getting a bit tatty and i'm thinking of binning it. i had it plugged in once where it made a rather ominous about to explode kinda sound- I've since found the ground wire had came loose. So, to get to the point-
Is the valve amplifier/ speaker (TrueVox) worth keeping, could any of it be modded for the use of guitar amplification? Or should i just ditch it all?
I have to add that it wouldn't be me that would be doing any modding- I would be offering it as a freebie to forumites.
anybody help?

Don't bin it, it's definitely worth either fixing - some of these things are quite collectable - or modding as a guitar amp.

Can you post a picture of it?

rpr · September 2013

The amp is mounted vertically- it's almost impossible to photograph in sit u cos of brackets, lighting etc.

I can only see one valve- pretty blackened-'BrimarD BRMA(?)2 made in England

best piccies

Some more here-http://s1349.photobucket.com/user/rprzone/story/59025#

rpr · September 2013

One more- Ihave sentimental reasons for keeping it, but not too concerned about the insides TBH. trying to be practical, hoping to move home and it's a bit bulky and pretty bad condition. I think the wood is veneer

ESchap · September 2013

Looks like it may be a single ended 6V6 with octal preamp and rectifier valves. The black you will see inside the valves is likely a carbon coating that was widely used (as a form of screen) at that time rather than burning.

Candidate for an early Champ or Princeton (5B/CX) conversion.

I believe that Truvox owned Celestion at that time and therefore the speaker is likely an Alnico Celestion, may or may not be useful for a guitar amp depending on size, rating and cone condition.

ICBM · September 2013

The little you can see of the speaker frame in the top pic isn't a valuable guitar-type Celestion - it appears to be probably an 8" or a 10", but has a cut-out on the chassis for a OT mounting so it's fairly old, which also means it will probably be alnico - although it might sound good anyway.

You probably need to get the amp section out to really tell whether it's easily convertable or not. Even if it is, the chances are it will need some fairly major overhaul work too - new caps etc. If you don't want to spend too much time and effort on it, you could just make it into a cab for a new mini-head which you could keep in the top section...

rpr · September 2013

Cheers chaps- I kind of like the idea of it having a sort of second life as a guitar amp- but as I said it would be in someones else's hands. Way beyond my capabilities and I don't really want or need another amp any roads.

ICBM- the speaker is indeed 10", cone looks undamaged. Here's a slightly better pic

Flanging_Fred · September 2013

I had a busted Ferrograph reel-to-reel made into an amp and it sounds great so conversions can work well if done by a competent builder.

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1960 valve gramophone innards

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